Former Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron has backed Virat Kohli to find his top form in the Super 8 stage of the ongoing World Cup. Kohli managed only five runs in three matches of the group stage and he will be determined to prove his mettle in the West Indies leg of the tournament.
Meanwhile, there were questions raised about Kohli’s strike rate in IPL 2024 by many experts after his mundane knock of 51 runs off 43 balls against SRH. However, Kohli was able to hit back at his critics as he scored 741 runs in 15 innings at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69 in the tournament.
Kohli has been a proven match-winner in all conditions and he is going to hold the key for the team as he has all the experience under his belt.
“Virat gives answers whenever questions are raised about his performance. If you see in the IPL, there were a lot of questions raised on his strike rate, and after that, Virat made such a comeback that he silenced everyone. I feel no one will ever talk about his strike rate,” Varun Aaron said on Star Sports.
“Similarly, if you see now, he remained cold in the first two or three matches. It can happen with any batter on such wickets. However, people need to understand that Virat just needs to put a switch on and he starts scoring runs. Virat will definitely be disappointed with his last three matches but come the West Indies, Virat will look a different batter when he plays on such wickets,” Aaron stated.
Meanwhile, Kohli has scored 112 runs in three T20I matches at an average of 37.33 and a strike rate of 141.77 while playing in the Caribbean conditions. Aaron, who was known to clock 145 kmph consistently in his career, noted that Kohli has a great record while playing across the globe.
“Tell me one thing, on which surface and in which country does Virat have a bad average? It’s a fact that Virat Kohli scores runs wherever he goes, and he scores runs with a certain aggression and adapts according to the conditions,” he replied.
“Virat Kohli’s biggest plus point is that he doesn’t play a similar kind of game everywhere. He adapts to the conditions and that is the biggest hallmark of a great batter,” Aaron observed.
India will begin their Super 8 campaign against Afghanistan at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday.
